An account of my return journey from Cornwall to Norfolk, with a photo gallery.
This is my final post about my Christmas in Cornwall, and details the return journey.
A JOURNEY OF MANY PARTS
I was travelling on a Sunday, something I normally try to avoid because it can be problematic. I was booked on the 14:15 from Plymouth, and had various subsequent connections to make. We left Fort Picklecombe at 12:45, and arrived at Plymouth station a little over an hour after that. As I was booked in coach A I had to get to the far end of the platform to be able to get to my booked seat. The train ran a little bit late, but not enough to disarrange my subsequent plans (incidentally GWR have already paid compensation for the problems with my outbound journey). Because I was right at the front of the train I would have had to walk the entire length of the platform at Paddington to get to the bridge that gives access to the Hammersmith and City line platforms, which was never a practical proposition. I therefore went through the ticket gates onto the concourse at my end of the platform, and boarded a circle line train at the Praed Street platforms, changing trains at Edgware Road as required. At King’s Cross I found my way to my next train, a non-stop service to Royston from where I would catch a replacement bus to Cambridge North and then board a train for the last stage of the journey to King’s Lynn. Everything on this stage of the journey went smoothly, and I arrived into King’s Lynn station exactly on schedule at 20:48. It remained only to walk home, a journey of about 20 minutes, and then unpack.
PHOTOGRAPHS
It was of course dark for much of the time I was travelling, but not for the really scenic part of the journey before Exeter, though I was on the wrong side of the train to get the full benefit of that.
The first two pictures in this gallery were taken through the car window on the journey to Plymouth.Then there were some pictures taken at Plymouth.Pictures taken in transit from Plynouth start here.On the Praed Street platforms.At Edgware RoadPart of the sign indication the Metropolitan line platforms at Baker Street.This picture should have featured a roundel as well as this, but someone walked right in front of the roundel while I was taking it/Railway 200 stuff at King’s CrossThe route map on the train to Royston.
An account of the final full day of my Christmas holiday in Cornwall, and a photo gallery.
On the Saturday, my last full day in Cornwall, we decided to make an early afternoon walk to the villages of Kingsand and Cawsand, and call in at a pub for a drink.
THE WALK
The walk from Fort Picklecombe to the villages starts by exiting the apartments via a covered walkway from the third floor which brings you out on the road out of the fort just by the officer’s mess. Once the fort has been left behind there is an opportunity, of which we availed ourselves, to leave the road and walk along a path that is part of the Mount Edgcumbe estate. Shortly after rejoining the road at the end of this section of path one leaves it again on to a section of the coast path, which takes one right to the edge of the villages. Because of their location, perched on a slope at the edge of a bay, most of the roads in the villages are too steep and/or narrow to permit motor traffic, making them less dangerous for pedestrians. There are two pubs, and we selected the second, the Halfway Inn. The drinks were excellent. It was a beautiful sunny day, and provided some fine pictures.
THE GAMES
One of the games at the apartment was a ‘where is it’? game with multiple difficulty levels available. After one trial using a political map and small placement markers we played the remaining games using the satellite map and the larger placement markers. By the time the last game I had finished, on this Saturday evening, all of us had one at least one game. I had almost won the opener on the Tuesday, but although I was first over the finish line I then got done by two successive sudden death questions. This Saturday evening I was again across the finish line first, after a number of right answers of which only some could be called guesses, and on this occasion I got a fairly easy sudden death question to seal the win.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
The name ‘Jail Ale’ relates to a famous prison on Dartmoor – it gets a mention in “The Hound of the Baskervilles”.
A look back at the Boxing Day activities of my Christmas in Cornwall, with a video and lots of photographs.
On Boxing Day we went out walking. Our original plan was to do a circular walk beginning with the Golitha falls Nature Reserve and continuing with a circular walk. This was later modified.
GOLITHA FALLS
Golitha falls are actually more a series of rapids on the river Fowey than falls as such. The nature reserve is very beautiful and has some interesting historic connections – the town of Fowey, at the estuary of the river Fowey used to be important in the pottery trade, and the clay from which the china was made passed through this region. In the course of our explorations we saw details of a pipeline that had once carried liquid kaolin.
THE DONIERT STONE
Doniert was the last recorded King of Cornwall back in the ninth century. His stone and an accompanying half stone sit in a semicircular enclosure just off a road. Although our original walk plan had to be abandoned to a stretch that was too muddy to be passed – I had a shoe sucked off before we abandoned our original plan – we were able to find an alternative route to the Doniert Stone and see this very interesting historical relic.
An account of a visit to Cotehele House and a scenic walk thereafter.
I begin this third post in my series about my holiday in Cornwall with an apology. The photo gallery is incomplete due to a mishap in the course of this walk. I lost my tote bag, which contained among other things spare batteries for my camera, which meant that when the battery I was using ran out part way through I could not replace it. Fortunately someone had handed it in at reception at Cotehele House and I was able to retrieve it.
A STATELY HOME AND A SCENIC WALK
On Christmas Eve we visited Cotehele House, for six centuries home to the Edgecumbe family, until the then Earl of Edgecumbe passed it to the National Trust in 1965, and then went for a scenic walk, which began with a wander through the hills and ended with a walk back along the Tamar Valley. We passed Calstock Church, quite separate from Calstock itself (I got no pictures of the church as my camera was out of battery by then), got some glorious views of the Calstock Viaduct, which carries the Tamar Valley line over the river of the same name (I managed to capture some before my camera ran out), and visited a pub on the way back along the Tamar Valley. Surprisingly for a pub on a popular walking route in a scenic location the prices were not by British standards extortionate – I produced a £20 note to purchase three drinks, fully expecting only shrapnel back by way of change, and my change included a £5 note as well as a few coins. We got back to the fort just as darkness was falling.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here is my incomplete but hopefully still impressive photo gallery from this day…
The Cotehele/ Calstock pictures begin here.A view of the house from the rear.A distant view of the Calstock viaduct.It was at this point that my camera battery failed.A couple of late pictures after my bag was restored to me.A boat we saw from the car on the journey back and that I was able to photograph after our return.
Continuing my account of my Christmas in Cornwall with a brief post about Tuesday’s activities.
In the last post on this site I detailed my journey from Norfolk to Cornwall. Here I pick up the story with a brief account of the first full day of the holiday.
A WALK TO GET INTO THE SWING OF THINGS
The only thing I did of note on the Tuesday was to walk to and from Kingsand, which provided some photos. The walk is a pleasant one, featuring a stretch of the coast path, with some splendid views. There was some more serious walking to follow, as you will read.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My gallery in naturally dominated by the pictures I took while walking…
The walk pictures start here (this ius a covered walkway from the third floor of the apartment bit of the castle up the road out, near the officer’s mess.Fort Pickelcome as seen looking back from the edge of Kingsand.…and end here.
An account of walk in my parents local area, complete with photo gallery.
On Tuesday we did a walk in my parents local area. This post describes my particular walk (all of us did somewhat different things).
THE CONSTRAINTS
In order to fit in around people’s limitations (time and otherwise) both cars were being used – my mother, my sister and I were travelling in one to Rame Head where our walk would begin, while my father took the other to a different parking spot and walked towards us, meeting us part way through our walk. We would walk together to the second parking spot, my father would give my mother a lift back to Rame Head so she could take the other car into Liskeard where she had an appointment, and would then drive back along the route the my sister and I would be walking to give us the possibility of a lift back to the fort. He overtook just on the far side of the twin villages of Kingsand and Cawsand from the fort, my sister chose to take the lift back, while I opted to stay walking.
THE WALK
The path from Rame Head is extremely scenic, with some wonderful sea views. Out on Rame Head there was a wind blowing, but once away from the head the path was quite sheltered, and the temperature was fairly warm. The second stage of the walk, with my sister, was all road based, but there were one or two decent views along the way. The final stage, on my own, was road based until Kingsand, then on to a path through the Edgecumbe estate up the point at which that path intersects with the road above Fort Picklecombe. The path offers some fine views and was good for walking on.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are my pictures taken during the walk…
Early in the walk.October is late in the yeat for butterflies, but they are not quite done yet.A distant view of Fort Pickelcombe (taken from the far side of Kingsand/ Cawsand).
An account of my explorations of Penzance and its Environs, complete with plenty of photographs.
This is the second of three posts I shall be writing about my trip to Penzance yesterday, and deals with my time in Penzance.
EXPLORING
I began my explorations by walking along the sea front and past the harbour, before heading upwards into town. In this early part of my exploration I passed the post box which was painted gold to honour 2012 Olympic Gold medallist and Penzance native Helen Glover. I also renewed my acquaintance with the Egyptian House, a remarkable building in Penzance. After lunching in a pub I followed a different route back towards the station and the path that heads towards Marazion. This road was well chosen as it enabled me to see a statue of Penzance’s most famous son, 19th century science great Humphry Davy.
TOWARDS MARAZION
I walked along the path towards Marazion as far as a point at which there is a bridge over the railway to one side and a route down the beach on the other. I made use of both side routes, doing some photography from the bridge. I turned back at this point, deciding it was time to get a train back to Liskeard. I had enjoyed Penzance.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here is the main gallery for this post…
The Glover gold painted post box (two pics) .The Egyptian House – many pics.A connection from Penzance to the legendary Robert Menzies, which extends via Lady Bradman (nee Jessie Menzies, a distant relation of Robert) to Donald Bradman.
An account of a trip on the Tamar Valley line, complete with large photo gallery.
Yesterday was the first full of my stay in Cornwall, and this post describes my main activity for that day. Today the weather is truly vile – high winds, lashings of rain and more recently to add to the mix fog as well so that the lighthouse that is usually clearly visible from my parents apartment is currently entirely shrouded from view.
A PLAN MISFIRES
I was dropped in Plymouth yesterday with a view to purchasing a Devon and Cornwall railcard (cost £12) to gain a 1/3 discount on all train fares in the region for a year. Unfortunately such a card can only be obtained if documentation relating to an address in the area can be produced and I had no such documentation. However I bought a return ticket to Gunnislake, northern terminus of the Tamar Valley Line, cost £7.90. I had over an hour before the next train to Gunnislake was departing, so filled some of the time by gaining greater familiarity with the environs of Plymouth station. Pedestrian access from the station to other areas of town comes by a way of path that leads under a roundabout. The central area of the under-roundabout path is dedicated to wild flowers and is pleasant walking. The hour of my journey arrived…
A SCENIC JOURNEY
The journey to Gunnislake could be described as a journey of two parts in two different ways:
For the first small portion of line (Plymouth – St Budeaux Victoria Road)the stops are frequent and the surroundings urban, specifically a commercial port area whose best days were long in the past, before the line then becomes very rural in character and the stops become much more widely spaced.
The route has a hairpin at Bere Ferrers, so that the train reverses its direction fo travel for the last three stops on the route (Bere Alston, Calstock and Gunnislake).
Also, as I failed to realize for the outbound journey the windows on the side of the train from which you board at Plymouth and at Gunnislake for the return journey offer much finer views than the other, which is why the majority of my best photos from the two train journeys were taken on the return one where I positioned myself correctly.
GUNNISLAKE
Gunnislake village is down a significant hill from Gunnislake station, and Tamar Valley is still further down (I did not venture right down into the valley). The Cornish Inn offered an acceptable pint, and also a view of what I suspect to be Gunnislake’s most intriguing resident, an African Grey Parrot named Ozzy, complete with warning notice written from his perspective.
THE RETURN JOURNEY
It was sufficiently warm that I removed my jumper while in Gunnislake. The train (a two coach crawler, and fairly basic, though less spartan than the laughably misnamed ‘sprinters’ that used to do the Sheffield to Barnsley run when I lived in that part of the world) was due to depart at 15:14, and it actually did precisely that. The return run went well, and I made up for not having had many successful pictures on the outward run as you will see. I think that if I make a second excursion on this line at some point I will book to Bere Alston, walk from there to Bere Ferrers and pick up the return train at Bere Ferrers.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are the pictures I took yesterday…
This one was taken through the window of my parentt’s apartment.A few pictures from Plymouth Station and its immediate environs.The Tamar Valley section of the gallery begins here.The view from Maker Heights on the way from Plymouth to Fort Picklecombe.The lighthouse mentioned in the introduction, taken from outside the fort yesterday.
An account of my journey from King’s Lynn to Plymouth yesterday, with a fine photo gallery.
I am in Cornwall, staying with my parents for a few days. I travelled down yesterday, and that journey will be the subject of this post.
KING’S LYNN TO LONDON
I was booked on later trains than I would have liked – leaving Lynn on the 1:42Pm and arriving into Plymouth where my parents would be meeting me at 8:13PM. I set off from my home in North Lynn an hour before the train was due to depart from King’s Lynn, and was on the platform with huge amounts of time to spare. The train suffered a couple of minor delays en route to London but I still had over 50 minutes to get from King’s Cross to Paddington. I arrived at Paddington half an hour before the train to Plymouth was due to depart, but it took a long time for the platform information to be confirmed, and I had only a few minutes to make my way to my seat by the time that happened.
PADDINGTON TO PLYMOUTH
I was on a train that was stopping at more places than usual for a journey to Plymouth – Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, Westbury and Castle Cary between Reading and Taunton. I got some good pictures between London and Exeter, but it was dark by the time I got to the seaside section of route between Exeter and Newton Abbot, and that meant it was hardly possible to take pictures due to the interference of reflections owing to the extreme contrast between the brightly lit train interior and the near darkness outside. The train arrived into Plymouth almost exactly as per schedule, which I understand is not a frequent occurrence with GWR long distance services. Apart from the overcrowding on the Hammersmith & City line between King’s Cross and Paddington the journey went well overall.
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